Container device



Feb. 20, 1951 STETTNER 2,542,724

CONTAINER DEVICE Filed Sept. 13, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 20, 1951 TETTN R 2,542,724

CONTAINER DEVICE Filed Sept. 13, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED This invention relates to ad8VlC81f01 C0ntain-lingand carrying stacked members,rsuch:asilan'- tern slides.

A general object of the invention iislto design a novel device of particularly icompact construe-' tion to facilitate the handlingand transportation of stacked members.

A more specific object of theinvention is to design a novel bracket which'is adaptedi'to be readily assembled and disassembled'withithe lidof' an associated case for carrying containers,

each of vwhich may be slidably.insertediintothe bracket to form a novelzcontainer unitztherewith constructedand arranged to contain a'stack of fiat members such as lantern'slides.

Another object of the'invention is Lto'provid'e a unit such as above described which is'adapted to dispense the contained members "at 'the lower extremity thereof and to receive the members at the top thereof, whereby the "stacked members are urged downwardly by force'of gravity as they are removed from the bottom :of' the container for use by the operator as forexample in aflantern slide projector.

Another object of the invention is :Lto design a novel unit such as above described wherein the bracket which receives the container'is provided?- with a top wall overlying the container and spaced from the adjacent end thereof to. define a slot through which'the containedmembers may be pushed upwardly, one at a time; by .theiopierator.

through which the stackedmembers in the container may be pushed, the top Wall acting asastop or bridge to prevent accidentalrem'oval of members other than the member in said slot.

The foregoing and other objects and a'dvan' tages of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective vew of a closed-case or receptacle, the cover of which is adapted to" support the novel unit;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the case from the front thereof with the cover elevated to show the novel container unit therein;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the case from the rear thereof with the novel container unit assembled with the elevated cover whichissecured in its open or elevated position;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the containers;

Figure -5 is a perspective view of one of the; containers inserted inthe bracket to forma container unit therewith;

Figurefi'is a perspectiveview of thebracket;

Figure 7is a fragmentary top plan view of the unit shown in Figures 2, 3, and 5;

Figure -8is a fragmentary sectional view'of the unit and-case taken in. a vertical plane approximately bisecting the unit longitudinally thereof;

Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view taken in .the plan indicated by-the line 99 of Figure 8 with stackedmembers removed.

Describing the invention in detail and referring first-to Figures '1 to' 3, the case or receptacle generally designated 2 comprises a lid or cover 'ihinged'thereto and adapted to belocked in its closed position by a" conventional latch or look 6 on the-front wall 8 of the-case. front wall 8 is provided-with va handlefi and is preferably hingedtothe bottom of the case 8 as at 1| to accommodate insertion and removal of thelantern slide containers and the associated bracket hereinafter described in detail. The case-2 is preferably provided with'arms l0 hinged to -the sides thereof and adapted to maintain the lidl in its open position as seen in Figure 3.

The case. 2, asrillustrated, is sufiiciently wide to contain threecontainers l2 adapted for the reception of a stack of flat members I4 such as lantern slides, andv the novel bracket generally designated l6 iscarried Within the case in assembled relationship-with one of the drawers lz definin anovel container unit therewith having the characteristics and functions hereinafter described in detail.

Referring now to Figures 4-9, one of the containers i2 and the bracket 16 defining the container unitare shown in detail. The container I2 comprises side walls l8, an end wall 20, and abottom wall 22 with a finger recess or opening 2d at one endthereof. The side walls 48 are provided with end fiangesii adjacent the recess 24.

Thecontainer i2 is adapted for slidable recep tion-withinthe--bracket:l 6 asbest :shown in Figure 5. The bracket ifi comprises sidewalls -28, a bottom wall 36 *and' a topwall 32' afford-1 ing a bridge or stop over. the container 12 to, limit upward movement-of. the slides 14 except for thebottom'slide which. seats against the flanges 26-. The side: walls 28 of the bracket are provided with end flanges 34 spaced from the-1130p 'wall'32zto vdefine an exit slotxor opening-"3'5" (Figurest 5-7) accommodating upward movementrofzthe: bottom= slide 14,. which maybe urged upwardly by the" finger of the op-- erator: inserted in the'recess 24, the bottom wall 30 'ofithecbracket I6 being cut away or recessed Theat its rear edge as at 37 (Figure 6) to define an aperture aflording access to the recess 24. The flanges 34 afford abutment for the flanges 26 of the container walls l8 to limit downward movement thereof thereby maintaining the container [2 and the bracket IS in assembled relationship in a novel container unit which may be removably secured to the lid 4 of the case 2, as hereinafter described.

The lid 4 is provided with spaced brackets 36 and 33 which receive the bottom wall 30 of the container bracket i6, said wall 38 being conveniently oiiset at 49 (Figures 8 and 9) to facilitate its insertion in the brackets 36 and 38. This is accomplished by urging the wall 30 forwardly into the bracket 35 which is somewhat resilient to accommodate this action. When the rear edge of the wall 36 has passed forwardly of the bracket 38, it may be inserted into the same and urged rear-wardly to the position shown in Figure 8.

The container i2 is preferably provided with a plate 42 secured to the bottom wall 22 thereof in any convenient manner and formed with lateral flanges t l (Figure'9) adapted for engagement with flanged arms 46 of a clip 48. The arms 46 are pivoted to a pin 59 carrying a torsion spring 52 engaged with the arms 48 to resiliently urge the flanged lower extremities there of into snug engagement with the flanges 4d. The pin 58 carries a resilient pad 54 for engagement with the associated slide it. It will be understood that by pinching the upper ends of the arms 45 together, the clip 58 may be moved along the flanges 4 to urge the slides i4 into a tight pile or stack engaged with the flanges 2. This prevents the slides from rattling in the case 2 during transportation thereof.

It may be noted that when the container unit is connected to the lid 4 of the case 2 as above described, and the lid is in its raised or open position as shown in Figure 3 the slides i i are urged downwardly by force of gravity. Thus as the operator removes the slides one at a time from the slot 35 at the lower end of the unit, the slides move downwardly. The operator may then replace the used slides at the top of the stack.

It will be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art, Without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising a receptacle having a hinged lid, an arm hinged to one side wall of the receptacle and adapted to maintain said lid in an elevated position, a bracket detachably mounted upon the top side of said lid with its axis in a plane perpendicular to the hinge line of said lid and a container slidably fitted in said bracket, said bracket having parallel side walls, a bottom wall with a recess at one end thereof and an ofset portion extending longitudinally from the inner edge of said recess to the remote end edge of said bottom wall connecting said side walls, an inwardly projecting flanged portion at one end of at least one side wall, a bridge parallel to the said bottom wall connecting said side walls at their top edges and spaced from said flanged portion, said container having an open top side, an open end and a finger opening in its bottom wall in communication with the said open end, said container being mounted in said bracket with its open end in abutment with the said'flanged portion of the bracket and with its open top facing said bridge and defining therewith a slot for the removal of stacked articles from within said container, means on the top side of said lid removably engaging the inner edge of said bottom recess and the said remote end edge of said bottom wall within said offset bottom portion with the said finger opening of the container and the recess in the bottom wall of the bracket being disposed beyond the adjacent edge of the said lid.

2. A device of the class described comprising a receptacle having a hinged lid and having means engageable with the lid for maintaining said lid in an elevated position, a bracket detachably mounted upon the top side of said lid with its axis in a plane approximately perpendicular to the hinge line of the lid, and a container slidably fitted in said bracket, said bracket having approximately parallel side walls, a bottom wall with a recess at one end thereof and an offset portion extending longitudinally from the inner edge of said recess to the remote end edge of said bottom wall connecting said side walls, an inwardly projecting flanged portion at one end of at least one side wall, a bridge generally parallel to said bottom wall and connecting said side walls at their top edges and spaced from said flanged portion, said container having an open top side, an open end and a finger opening in its bottom wall in communication with said open end, said container being mounted in said bracket with the open end of said container in abutment with the flanged portion of the bracket and with the open top of said container facing said bridge and defining therewith a slot for the removal of stacked articles from within said container, means on the top side of said lid removably engaging the inner edge of said bottom recess and the said remote end edge of said bottom wall within said offset bottom portion with the said finger opening of the container and the recess in the bottom wall or the bracket being disposed beyond the adjacent edge of the said lid.

3. A device of the class described comprising a receptacle having a hinged lid and having means engageable with the lid for maintaining said lid in an elevated position, a bracket detachably mounted upon the top side of said lid with its axis in a plane approximately perpendicular to the hinge line of the lid, and a container slidably fitted in said bracket, said bracket having approximately parallel side walls and a bottom wall with a recess at one end thereof, an inwardly projecting flanged portion at one end of at least one side wall, a bridge generally parallel to said bottom wall and connecting said side walls at their top edges and spaced from said flanged portion, said container having an open side, an open end and a finger opening in its bottom wall in communication with said open end, said container being mounted in said bracket with the open end of said container in abutment with the flanged portion of the bracket and with the open top of said container facing said bridge and defining therewith a slot for the removal of stacked articles from within said container, means on the top side of said lid removably engaging the bracket, with the said finger opening of the container and the recess in the bottom wall of the bracket being disposed beyond the adjacent edge of the lid.

JOSEPH S'I'ETTNER.

(References on following page) 5 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Number Name Date 1,445,569 Tiffany Feb. 13, 1923 1,645,807 Grant Oct. 18, 1927 1,625,647 Gillan Apr. 19, 1927 1,668,171 Pratt May 1, 1928 10 Number Numb er Name Date Ewell Jan. 12, 1932 Mitchell July 10, 1934 Nelson Nov. 13, 1934 Casteen Feb. 22, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France of 1933 

